Digging for Spring

Hello there! Is it just me or has autumn shoved it's way in faster than you can say 'Go away I'm not ready!?' Although, not even autumn. Is it just me or has it suddenly become winter? It barely feels like I've had the sun on my face and we've now been thrown back into keeping the curtains closed in the mornings, having the heating on, popping every single fairy light on that we have and sharing the bed with Roma, who now wants our body heat!I'm honestly not complaining, I'm just utterly flabbergasted! Last Thursday I had the roof down in my car and now I'm in socks, boots, long sleeves and even (dare I say it?) a coat! We certainly haven't had the slow transition where you still get to be out in the garden but you just come inside earlier, so I do hope we'll be able to have that soon. If the history of English weather is anything to go by, we'll probably be having a heat wave next week. *crosses fingers*

So with all that in mind, I've decided that my monthly garden updates will now become seasonal garden updates, perhaps with the odd extra thrown in. I didn't touch the garden last autumn / winter and I can't imagine I'll be doing masses this year, but I'm sure there'll be stuff that needs doing and if there is, it'll be on here.For the time being, I'll be writing up what we've been doing to prep the garden for the future, as and when we do it. Last weekend we started on a job that I've been itching to do for weeks, and we're only part finished due to it getting rained off halfway through.

Across the back of the garden there's a space that I was hoping would turn completely to grass but it hasn't shown much of that happening and it just looks a wee bit scruffy. It doesn't need to be grass, we don't sit that far up and it is a bit of a boring end to the garden.

I've been thinking a lot about it lately and I decided it made more sense to turn it into a flowerbed. My only reservation was that we would lose some of the grass which isn't what I wanted, but after assessing the space it makes sense at the moment. The patio slabs are all wonky and untidy, and I think there's a lot more potential here that isn't being met.

So on Sunday after a (very rare) lay in we stepped outside and got to work. It seems that autumn had without a doubt arrived, on that late Sunday morning. There was a crisp chill in the air, the smell of coal fires drifting on the breeze, and the silence that indicated everyone else was tucked up in their warm homes. It was so, so peaceful, just us and the start of the new season.

I usually like to do things myself but when it comes to a job this big, I got P to do the hard bit for me. We often do different things over the summer weekends, he's either working or golfing and I'm pottering about at home or in town, but we always come together again in the afternoons and evenings. I can't say how lovely it was to have him working out here with me, planning our garden together for next year.So I left him in charge of digging while I was in charge of drinks and deciding where I wanted my spring bulbs. I picked up some daffodils, tulips and ranunculus at Wilko on Saturday. I think it totals about 60 bulbs and all for under £10.We put the border roll in together which finishes it off nicely, although we need to get some more as we ran out! I'm contemplating extending this bed to the corner where that barrel is, then possibly down the left hand side too. The border roll I use is from QD, and is usually about 2 rolls for £5.

And then the rain came down, very hard and very quickly. We had to call it a day here but I managed to get a shot of the new bed before sprinting inside and settling down to do the ironing with a hot chocolate and the tv. I'd forgotten about that little cosy pleasure you get in winter, all snuggled up while it's cold and pouring outside.

I'm so pleased with how it's looking but there's a long way to go yet! We need to finish the border roll off, then plant up the spring bulbs that I didn't get a chance to do. I may also put my rose in here as I think it will be happier in the ground. I foresee the odd sunflower growing against that fence next year too. Ooh!Thanks for reading today and have a fab weekend. Mine starts tomorrow night, so I'll tell you all about that next week. I'll continue to report back about our autumn jobs in the garden, I'm having a lot of fun planning for next year as now is the time to make the changes I have in mind.To see our progress, have a look at my Planting for Spring post.See you next week,